Legal News

[Taxation] New developments toward tax audits in 2025

2024/11/22

On October 23, 2024, the government inspection agency issued Official Letter No. 2220/TTCP-KHTH, which outlined the guidelines for audits and inspections in 2025. The government inspection agency plans to collaborate with various ministries, government agencies, and people’s committees of provinces and cities under central government jurisdiction to develop an audit program covering all areas, including taxation.

According to this official letter, the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Taxation are required to focus on tax audits of companies in high-risk industries and sectors. Specifically, the following types of companies are targeted:
1. Industries such as petroleum/gasoline, electricity, telecommunications, banking, insurance, securities, finance leasing, pharmaceuticals, real estate, construction, gold/silver/precious stone processing, entertainment, advertising/media, and e-commerce
2. Large companies that have not been audited for many years
3. Companies involved in the transfer of capital, trademarks, or projects
4. Companies issuing stock dividends or bonus shares
5. Companies with related-party transactions or transfer pricing, which have reported losses for many years or have significantly lower performance compared to peers in the same industry
6. Companies with high risks related to invoices
7. Companies applying tax refunds or preferential tax systems with signs of fraud or risk
8. Companies that have applied for tax deductions under double taxation avoidance agreements
9. Companies that have been provided with suspicious transaction information by banking audit agencies or customs authorities

Typically, once the guidelines are published, the State Taxation Administration will issue instructions to local tax bureaus to compile a list of companies that meet the above criteria, from which companies to be audited in 2025 will be selected.

The selection process is expected to take place from the end of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025.

Local tax bureaus are expected to notify companies selected for the audit list in advance of the audit plan and scheduled implementation period.

References:
Official Letter No. 2220/TTCP-KHTH